Massive protests against Rubio's visit in the most anti-American country in Europe

America sold a weapons program worth four billion euros to Greece, but Greece did not receive any contribution to strengthen the country's defense industry. The "New Left" party of Greece described the visit of the US Secretary of State as part of a personal propaganda campaign.

Ambassador Arjan; Mahmoud Fazli; Former diplomat and international affairs analyst - US Secretary of State Mark Rubio's visit to Greece and participation in the sixth round of strategic talks between the two countries led to widespread internal protests in Greece as the most anti-American country in Europe.

Protesters in the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki protested the American policies and the expansion of military cooperation between the two countries by holding anti-war rallies. These rallies were organized by student unions, labor organizations and political parties. Several famous Greek figures criticized this trip and expressed their views.

Criticism of the former president of Greece to Rubio's visit

Mr. Pavlopos, the former president (2015-2020), called the speech of the US Secretary of State on the Panikas Hill - located in the historical area of the Acropolis in Athens - an attempt to issue the Trump Doctrine to the world about US global domination. According to him, Rubio's real goal was to show the "correctness" of Trump's doctrine on the eve of the midterm elections. Rubio introduced America as the only defender of Western civilization and assumed a subordinate role for NATO and the European Union.

The US foreign minister did not make any initial reference to international law and showed how far America is from international law today. In his words, Rubio tried to prove the superiority of Western civilization over other civilizations, while the essence of Western civilization, according to the great theorists of this civilization, is "the equality of civilizations and peaceful coexistence in the framework of dialogue between civilizations".

Mr. Pavlopoulos considered Rubio's claim about America's defense of democracy to be "obviously contradictory" to the current reality of this country and emphasized that "in the Trump era, the separation of powers and the rule of law have collapsed in America itself, while Trump's policy "also violates any concept of the sovereignty of independent countries and demands their obedience to the United States. The current American policy approach is weakening the national sovereignty of countries and reviving the most extreme teachings of neoliberalism.

The former president of Greece also criticized Rubio's refusal to criticize Turkey and emphasized that Rubio did not mention the violation of Greece's sovereign rights in its territorial waters, continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, nor did it mention the occupation of one-third of the territory of Cyprus since 1974.

Trying to involve Greece in imperialist wars

Mr. Kotsombas, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Greece, in his speech at the gathering of protesters in the main square of Athens, while announcing his opposition to the visit of the US Secretary of State to Greece, described him as an "undesirable element" and called on people to participate in the protest rallies of this party throughout the country.

In his positions, which lasted for several days, he emphasized: "The US Secretary of State is coming to Greece to "reach an agreement with the right-wing neo-democratic government and with the support of PASOK, the Tsipras Party and other parties, regarding the greater participation of Greece in imperialist plans and wars. But the Greek people can no longer tolerate this. During all these years, the Greek people have paid a heavy price due to the strategic agreement with the United States, from energy poverty and skyrocketing costs to heavy taxes and huge military expenses that have no defense purpose for our country.

In addition, Greece is involved in wars and all over Greece is filled with deadly US military bases. The policies of the current conservative government have led to a sharp increase in the cost of living and energy poverty, a decrease in the income of ordinary people, the loss of workers' rights, and our country getting more and more caught up in the imperialist competition of the region and the war plans of its allies.

According to this party, one of the goals of this trip is to "promote the agreement on the bases with the aim of making them permanent". These bases are already being used in the Middle East war and "as Russia and Iran have warned" they are the target of retaliatory measures.

Rubio's trip is a "dangerous development for the people" of Greece in the framework of the strategic talks between Greece and the United States. All Greek governments are responsible for deepening Greece's participation in the plans of the United States and NATO. Rubio came to Athens to seek greater commitments from the Greek government to participate in US energy projects. Greece must avoid becoming an "aggressor against other nations and the target of retaliatory measures."

The large participation of people in the gatherings of labor unions and peace-seeking movements is a decisive response to this trip, and the withdrawal of American forces and the closing of American bases are among the main demands of our party.

According to the general secretary of this party, the increase in Greek participation in the war fronts from Ukraine to Iran has been accompanied by the recognition of the key role of the "Suda" military base and the "Alexandropolis" port. The announcement of the government's readiness to send troops to the Strait of Hormuz in the name of "freedom of navigation" is actually done for the benefit of ship owners, and this process turns Greece into an "aggressor against other nations and the target of retaliatory measures." The myth that introduced Greece as a pillar of security has collapsed.

Criticism of the Greek leftists to the development policies of the US Taliban

Mr. Manjos, the parliamentary spokesman of the Socialist Party (PASOK), claimed that the Trump administration "does not believe in international law, but in naked power." As an important ally of America, Greece should have received clearer support against Türkiye. Turkey "systematically violates or threatens to violate international law.

Mr. Tsipras, the head of the Greek Left Alliance Party (Ellas), claimed that the government is trying to hide the failure of Rubio's trip. Trump is ready to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. Rubio was expected to speak in support of Greece in the sensitive issues of relations between Athens and Ankara and Turkey's violation of international law.

It was expected that at least an encouraging position would be expressed regarding the resolution of our dispute with Türkiye regarding the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, or support for Guterres' framework to resolve the Cyprus issue. But no word was heard.

Former Prime Minister Tsipras, who recently formed a new party and is running for the general elections in Greece in the spring of 2027, criticized the US Secretary of State's speech in support of nationalism and nationalism and emphasized that "a distinction must be made between patriotism and nationalism. Europe is drowned in the blood of nationalism. Hitler's rise to power and the slogan "Germany above all" led to bloodshed in Europe.

Rubio's "Acropolis-backed" speech, which had a propaganda aspect, was exploited "for his personal future ambitions in the post-Trump era."

Mr. Karpokhchis, the deputy spokesperson of Elas party, also claimed in an interview with Mega TV channel that Marco Rubio's visit did not provide "any support or response to Turkish provocations" for Athens. In this trip, there was no mention of marine parks, the demarcation of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, and he encouraged the American side of Greece to reach an agreement with Turkey regarding the project of connecting the Greek and Cyprus electricity grids.

America sold a weapons program worth four billion euros to Greece, but Greece did not receive any contribution to strengthen the country's defense industry.

The "New Left" party of Greece described the visit of the US Secretary of State as part of a personal propaganda campaign. According to this party, the Greek government, by following Donald Trump's "eager ally" strategy, once again imposed billions of new costs on the people. The only agreement signed between the two sides was the purchase of weapons worth 4 billion dollars, while these resources could be used to support the income of citizens.

Rubio's speech in the historic Acropolis area was also provocative. The US Secretary of State gave an ultra-conservative election speech and the senior officials of Greece watched him with astonishment!

Mrs. Duro, the head of the parliamentary group of the left-wing Syriza party, also accused Rubio of turning the Acropolis and Penikas Hill into a decoration for the extreme right-wing views that America promotes in Europe.